Microbial Bioactives
Microbial Bioactives | Online ISSN 2209-2161
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Volume 7 Number 1 2024
REVIEWS (Open Access)
Oceans of Opportunity: Marine Microbial Biodiversity as a Frontier in Bioactive Drug Discovery
Sultan Ayesh Mohammed Saghir 1*
Microbial Bioactives 7 (1) 1-8 https://doi.org/10.25163/microbbioacts.7110664
Submitted: 04 July 2024 Revised: 01 September 2024 Accepted: 10 September 2024 Published: 12 September 2024
Abstract
The marine environment, covering approximately 70% of the Earth’s surface, represents an extraordinary reservoir of microbial diversity and bioactive compounds. Marine microorganisms, including bacteria, fungi, and microalgae, have evolved unique metabolic pathways and physiological adaptations to survive extreme conditions such as high pressure, low temperatures, and variable salinity. These adaptations result in the production of secondary metabolites with diverse bioactivities, ranging from antimicrobial and antifungal properties to anticancer, neuroactive, and anti-inflammatory effects. Historically, drug discovery has focused on terrestrial sources, but the high rediscovery rate of known compounds has driven the exploration of marine ecosystems as a promising frontier for novel chemical scaffolds. Symbiotic assemblages with marine invertebrates, particularly sponges, corals, and tunicates, serve as prolific sources of microbial bioactives, producing compounds such as ET-743, halichondrin B, and dolastatins. Benthic sediments, deep-sea habitats, and mangroves offer rare actinomycetes and other uncultured microbes, while the water column hosts cyanobacteria and microalgae that synthesize potent therapeutic metabolites. A critical challenge in marine biodiscovery is the “Great Plate Count Anomaly,” where less than 1% of microbes are cultivable. Modern omics technologies, including metagenomics, single-cell genomics, and biosynthetic gene cluster mining, now enable access to this microbial “dark matter” and silent metabolites. Integrating biological, chemical, and computational approaches enhances the potential for translating these discoveries into sustainable therapeutics. This review synthesizes current knowledge on marine microbial sources, highlights innovative discovery strategies, and emphasizes their critical role in addressing antimicrobial resistance and expanding the pharmacopeia of natural products.
Keywords: Marine microbes, secondary metabolites, antimicrobial resistance, metagenomics, bioactive compounds, symbiotic microorganisms
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